


Two Parts of a Whole

by MoonlitLilium



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Genderfluid!Taichi, Set during The Stranger, Trans Girl!Yuki, Yuki being a trans mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23089456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitLilium/pseuds/MoonlitLilium
Summary: Taichi feels oddly at home in his Zero costume for Autumn Troupe's play. He wonder's why that is and Yuki helps him out.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Two Parts of a Whole

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't get the thought out of my mind that Taichi's genderfluid so I wrote this. I'm not genderfluid myself, so I hope it's accurate! If not please let me know how I can make this better represent you!

Taichi had to admit, he did look super cute. Yuki really did a great job on the costumes this time around, not that she ever does a bad job. Taichi had wanted to try growing out his hair, once upon a time. He saw in a magazine somewhere that girls dig guys with long hair. That never really went anywhere though. Taichi had worn make-up before too, but this time around it was much more delicate. Just a light dusting on the cheeks and eyelids, plus a little lip gloss. The dress was something new, even if it wasn’t your typical sundress, it still made it easier for Taichi to imagine what he would look like in a normal dress. He wasn’t quite sure what style would suit him, not that he had any of the terminology to know what types of dresses there were.

Taichi stood there for a few minutes, taking in this image of himself. He felt so comfortable like this. Maybe it’s just because he’s an actor and he’s gotten used to the part, but even when he’s off-stage, he feels a pull back to the long locks and tattered dress fluttering behind his ankles. He had even thought about going out and maybe trying on some dresses, but ultimately chickened out.

“Oi, Taichi, are you that desperate for a girl’s attention that you’d stare at yourself?”

Taichi, flustered, turned to the entrance of the dressing room and saw Yuki, hands on her hips, with an annoyed look. Taichi took another glance at the mirror, the profile made it glaringly obvious that he was simply dressing like a girl. An adam’s apple rising just a little too far. Dress flush against a flat chest. It bugged him. He wasn’t sure why, but it just did all of a sudden. He frowned and turned back to Yuki, whose look seemed to have softened. “You didn’t take what I said seriously did you?” she let her hands fall from her hips, “I know I can be a little harsh sometimes…” Taichi shook his head.

“N-no, it’s fine, I was thinking about something else.” Taichi’s eyes meet Yuki’s for a second, before they find an interesting spot on the floor to look at.

Taichi contemplated. If he had to talk to anyone about the little thoughts he’s been having, it would probably make the most sense to tell Yuki. Yet, there was something in his mind that wanted to bottle everything up. Almost as if he was scared. Scared of what, he wasn’t sure. Being rejected maybe? But that didn’t make sense. Everyone accepted Yuki. So what if Taichi sometimes wished he could be pretty like Yuki or like the director.

Yuki hadn’t expected to end up in a situation like this. All she came in here for was to grab a piece of Juza’s costume that he had forgotten. She swore she could hear gears turning in Taichi’s head. Should she ask him what he was thinking about? Normally she wouldn’t care to ask, but Taichi just looked so...serious. It was very out of character. If she was being honest with herself, she probably already knew what Taichi was thinking about considering how she found him. It gave her a strange sense of familiarity. She decided to sit down on a nearby chair, and gave a look to Taichi, letting him know if he wanted to say anything, she would listen.

The room felt like it was filled with dense gas. Sweat began to bead under the choker of Taichi’s costume. He had the break the silence, somehow. It was stifling. He swallowed loudly, then took a deep breath.

“When you realized you were a girl, how did you feel? Or, I guess, what did you think about?” Taichi frowned. He wasn’t really sure how or what to ask Yuki, words just didn’t come to him, so he settled for this. Yuki looked like she was processing what Taichi had asked, and those moments felt like a lifetime. 

It all clicked with Yuki. Her vague thoughts had been made clear, she knew exactly how Taichi felt in this moment. Afterall, she’d been there before.

“I can’t say I can pinpoint one exact moment where I realized everything. It’s like a series of feelings and moments that all accumulated into a better understanding of myself,” Yuki had Taichi’s full attention. “I remember one time when I was really little, my mom was tying little bows into one of my sister’s hair and I wondered why my mom never did that for me. I asked her and at first she laughed, but then did it for me anyway. I felt so cute.” Yuki smiled softly at nothing. “After that I remember trying on my sister’s old clothes and thinking to myself how at home it felt.” Taichi nodded slowly, taking in Yuki’s words carefully. “I guess I always felt like myself, like a girl, I just needed to express that outward.”

Taichi appreciated Yuki’s vulnerability, but he didn’t quite feel satisfied with her answer. How he felt, seemed a bit different from how Yuki felt. It confused him. Taichi didn’t always feel the way he did today. On other days he felt super at home in his body and in his clothes. It wasn’t an ‘always’ thing.

“Do you ever, I don’t know, not feel like a girl? Like just sometimes?” Taichi asked with a bit of caution in his voice. He knew there was a way to interpret this badly, but he needed to know in order to understand himself.

Yuki was a bit surprised at Taichi’s question, and honestly felt a little irritated at it. Was this kid asking her if she was actually sure about her feelings? Yuki had spents years pondering on this and she wasn’t about to let someone invalidate all of that. Not after she’d come this far and accepted who she was. Before she called Taichi out, she got a good look at his face. There was not a single hint of malice. Just genuine curiosity. She calmed down a bit. What was he trying to get out of her? 

“How about, before I answer that, can you tell me why you asked it?” Taichi’s eyebrows furrowed. How could he explain this. He knew he wasn’t good with words, but this was important to him, so he had to try. Another deep breath.

“I ask, because that’s how I feel. On some days, I feel like you do, like a girl I mean. But on other days, I feel very comfortable as I usually am, a guy. It’s really confusing.” Yuki’s face softened further, she knew exactly what this was. She smiled softly at Taichi, a rare occurrence.

“Have you ever thought that you might be genderfluid?” Taichi tilted his head to the side, very reminiscent of a puppy. He’d never heard the term before. Yuki picked up on his new confusion, and figured she should elaborate. “Well, I’m not an endless spring of knowledge on the topic, since I’m not genderfluid myself, but I know there are people that feel their gender is fluid. It changes day to day, month to month, etcetera.”

Taichi’s eyes widened to saucers. He couldn’t believe it. That’s it, that’s exactly how he felt! He didn’t know there were people like him or that there was a word for this.

“So it’s okay for me to feel like a girl sometimes, and a boy sometimes?” Taichi needed a little more clarification, but he could barely contain his elation. You could practically see a tail wagging. Yuki almost laughed at how quickly Taichi’s mood changed.

“Well, it’s a bit out of my jurisdiction, but I’d say that’s one way you can be genderfluid.” The smile on Taichi’s face that followed could have blinded thousands. Taichi ran over to Yuki and pulled her into a large hug. Yuki stiffed at the sudden contact, but eventually returned the hug as Taichi buried his face into her shoulder.

“Thank you so much, Yuki. You’re amazing, you know that?” A light blush dusted Yuki’s cheeks as she tried to escape Taichi’s tight grip.

Just then Juza came into the dressing room, probably wondering what was taking Yuki so long. Not far behind him was Banri and from the sounds coming from the hall, it seemed that Omi and Sakyo were approaching as well. 

Banri was the first to notice the scene, despite being the second into the room. “Damn what’s going on here? Finally make a move Taichi?” Taichi quickly let go of Yuki, a bit embarrassed.

“W-what no I was just, we were just-- talking!” Yuki almost rolled her eyes, Taichi just made it sound like they were up to something else. She gave Taichi a look, on the surface there was annoyance, but underneath it was almost as if she was asking if he was okay. Taichi calmed a bit and took yet another deep breath. Omi and Sakyo had entered the room at this point still quietly chatting amongst themselves until they noticed something was happening, though they weren’t sure what.

“Hey, is everything alright guys?” Omi didn’t think there was anything wrong, but he did look slightly worried.

Taichi nodded aggressively, “yeah everything is fine! I just needed to talk to Yuki about something.” Sakyo looked a bit annoyed.

“Did this talk need to happen twenty minutes before our show?” Taichi flinched, but before he could reply, Yuki stood up.

“Yes, actually I’d say it was pretty important, wouldn’t you Taichi?” Taichi hesitated and his eyes swept the room, looking at each of his fellow Autumn Troupe members. He realized in that moment just how close he’d gotten with all of them, and how much he cherished all of them. He realized that he could be open with them. About all of this. Taichi felt stupid at how nervous he had been earlier.

“Y-yeah, it was pretty important,” Taichi stood up and looked toward Autumn Troupe. “Yuki, just helped me figure out something about myself and in fact I think it’s so important that I should share it with you guys too,” Taichi smiled brightly once again. “I’m genderfluid and I would like you all to use she/her pronouns for me for a while.” There was a beat of silence. Finally Juza grunted in acknowledgement. Omi gave Taichi one of his signature soft smiles and nodded. Banri simply shrugged and said something like ‘sure’. Lastly Sakyo. His face was a bit unreadable, but eventually he spoke.

“Well, I’m glad you were comfortable enough with us to share that Taichi. You’re right, that was important, I’m sorry for doubting you two.” Everyone was shocked, Sakyo never sounded like that. Taichi released the hold on her dress she didn’t know she had. She stood still for a moment, she was so happy her mind wasn’t really sure what it wanted to do. Her body chose for her however. She ran up to each member giving them all a hug. She then gave a twirl and headed for the door.

“Well what are we waiting for? We have a show to perform don’t we?” Another grin and she was down the hall bounding toward the stage. Everyone else followed, all with small contented smiles or chuckles at Taichi’s contagious joy.

The show that night was better than any performance they had ever done. Taichi especially seemed to glow on stage with a new understanding of her role and herself.

She came out to the rest of the company that night after the show and they all showered her with love and support.


End file.
